Video in the Classroom

First off, I would just like to say that the 4 Generations: Water Buffalo Movie definitely brought a tear to my eye... just one, like the Native American crying about polluting the land in that commercial a few years back. (you all know the one). A video like that might be a great beginning to a lesson on community and charity.
As for using video in any past projects, it would have come in handy when I made that PowerPoint presentation on the classification of animals in high school science class. I must admit that I was guilty of overly using the effects button and redundancy of bullets. Being an art student, I have made my fair share of video projects.
When it comes to using video in my classroom, I will use it in a number of ways. I will use video to engage the students about a topic, such as Native American rituals or Chinese Watercolor Painting. Being and art teacher, the students will have a few video assignments. Some might include making their own commercials, a video tour of the art room/school, a video of puppet shows using puppets the students have made, or a day in the life of the student. Students can also make Podcasts of what they have learned in my classroom as well as others.
Video is open to creativity which is essentially what teaching art is all about.

Closing the Gaps in engagement in learning

This chapter mainly discusses the importance of the internet in education. It tends to discuss the use of "technology" (by technology, the article means the internet) in a high school setting. I understand when they talk about the primary ingredients that foster involvement and motivation; Faculty and students need to have competence and control, a strong belief in the value of education, as well as a sense of belonging. I believe that the curriculum should be relevant to the students experiences and goals.
However, I don't agree with their statement on how the gap between engagement and learning can be closed by "encouraging our faculty and their graduate students to take education issues seriously". This implies that the faculty and their students don't take education seriously or for that matter care about education at all.
This article leaves me a bit confused. When they mention undergraduate students and graduate students, are they talking about them in terms of teaching them or in terms of those students preparing to be teachers? I also feel that this chapter answered very little questions on how to close the gap between engagement and learning. They offered minor suggestions on how to use the internet in the basic subjects such as math and science. But they also said the technology should be integrated into the curriculum as if it was always there. The actual means of technology should (the computer or projector) should fade into the background therefore bringing the content to the forefront. This was a good point, but it does not tell me how to close the gaps between engagement and learning. I guess that is up to me.
I appreciate that they made clear the importance of maintaining lectures and reading, but again this does not pertain to the subject of art. They mentioned that with the integration of internet in the classroom students can DO history and science rather just read or talk about it. Well, students were DOING art before the invention of the internet. Sending students to make art on the internet seems counter intuitive and almost backwards.
The internet has its place in all classes. It is a great interactive tool that can raise a child's interest and knowledge in other cultures. It is also great for research projects. But as far as art is concerned, as of right now I don't see many other uses for it.